Teaching Galicia in Appalachia: Lessons from Anthropology, Ethnographic Poetry, Documentary Photography, and Political Theory

Abstract

Blending ethnographic understandings with insights from political theory, this chapter probes the connections between Galicia and Appalachia. Both may be understood postcolonially, in the context of internal colonization. Both may be understood from the perspective of migration to destinations outside of the regions. Both are experiencing a renaissance of locally grown food, local cuisine, and indigenous crafts. Most importantly, both may be understood in terms of humanistic anthropology and political theory’s shared insights into the storied nature of culture and political communities, giving our students a way to see how vernacular experiences are woven into Galician national and Appalachian regional narratives. Thus, we encourage our students to visualize the connections between Galicia and Appalachia, localizing the intersections and establishing empathy through storied social science.

The disclosure of ‘who’ through speech, and the setting of a new beginning through action, always fall into an already existing web where their immediate consequences can be felt. Together they start a new process which eventually emerges as the unique life story of the newcomer, affecting uniquely the life stories of all those with whom he comes into contact… Although everybody started his life by inserting himself into the human world through action and speech, nobody is the author or producer of his own life story.

—Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition